This year I participated in the 2013 GS Trophy help at the BMW Performance Center in Greer SC. It was a 3 day event of testing your on and off road skills. This event was not to see how fast you an go but how well you can do it. This year I rode my trust 2008 BMW R1200 GS Adventure. All and only BMW bikes were welcome from a minimum of 450cc and all bikes must be street legal.
Day 1.
On day one we did all on road trials. Most of all that was tested on day one was how well you can handle your bike. We did many tight turn and slow maneuvering courses where your steering goes from lock to lock. Points are deducted if you tap your foot on the ground, stall, drop your bike, hit a cone or go outside over the line. We did slalom courses with cones up to 10 apart, and tight radius turns where if you take a turn to wide you won't make the next checkpoint. One of the hardest challenges was you have 30 seconds to go as slow as you can and stay between the lines. If you touch or cross the lines you loose all points. If you go past the furthest line before your time is up you also loose all points. The shortest distance gone the more points you get. We did about 10 overall courses that day and most of everyone seemed to have done well. like Myself though there were a few dropped bikes but everyone still seemed to be having a good time.
Day two.
On day two we were tested on our off road skills. In the morning we had to complete everything from steep hill climbs to gravel pits, tight cornering, to large rock pits. On day two is where a lot of the scores changed. There were many riders new to off road with little off road experience so those who did well on the paved roads, their places were up for grabs when the off road scores came in. That afternoon we grabbed lunch and that's when the real challenge began. Our last test was the X5 off road course. By this time the weather was rolling in and it was starting to sprinkle. Not to bad at first. Our bikes were dusty and we are all adventure riders. Rain to us just means our bikes get a proper adventure cleaning. The only issue the rain brought to us was on the X5 course and the slippery rocks. For those who don't know the X5 course is the BMW Training Facility where you can go and take a BMW X5 off road and see what they can really do. It was everything from steep inclines to water crossings, sharp inclines and big bumps. For most of the course it was pretty simple. Stay within the cones and don't put your feet down or drop the bike. But due to the rain and the rocks being slippery, making sure you don't drop the bike was the biggest issue. When your back tire skids with no traction and your going up a hill or down a hill it's really hard not to put down your feet. At the end of the X5 course was the water crossing. It stopped about 10 in their tracks including myself. For those who started we got hit with a wave and when we got hit the wave went into out intake and shut down our engines. At that time we had to push our bikes out of the 2 feet of water and start pulling the spark plugs to drain out the water. I was also one of those who didn't make it and had to pull my spark plugs to drain out the water. After pulling the plugs and getting the bike started again, I was back up and running. Next on the to do list was to change the oil when I got home.
Day 3.
On day three I did not participate. At the end of day two the scores were added up and the top 12 go on to day three to compete again for the top 3 to make Team USA. On day three it was a mix up between everything.
More photos can be found on my Facebook Page along with videos of the GS Trophy 2013.
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My number this year.
Team Orange
The red cones is the slalom course
Of course there is a camera around when I go down.
The aftermath after my spill. I was laughed at when I first bought
that lever guard. Well it saved me $3000. Well worth it.
The gang
The first hill of the day.
Yard Sale anyone. Someone forgot to latch their top box going down the hill.
The large Rock pit.
The Rock pits first victim
X5 course steep decline on the wet slippery rocks
The objective. Weave between the cones and come to a complete stop at each set of cones.
Gravity was not my friend today and neither was friction.
Yes I finally made it down saftly.
How low can you go?
The Gravel Pit with Blair taking it like a Boss.
The Gravel pit. Soft deep very loose gravel. Not your normal gravel road
Those who weren't so lucky in the water hole. Gathered in the tent to pull plugs
to get their bikes started again.
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